Smacked by an Angel
by Paige M. Carter
Summary: After Boxed In, the team gets a wake up call from an unlikely person: Kate. Contains SLASH. If you don't like that, don't read.


If there was one thing Kate hated about being dead, among many, it was being invisible, especially now. Tony was still hurting because of his being framed for murder and no one was doing anything! They just kept acting like everything was okay when it was plainly clear that Tony wasn't okay. Didn't they see how pale he'd gotten or the dark circles under his eyes that spoke of a lot of sleepless nights. Tony looked almost as bad as he had after his bout with the plague and no one seemed to care.

Kate growled in frustration, when the Head of Guardians had told her that she was needed by her former team, he hadn't mentioned the fact that she wouldn't be able to interact with them. How was she supposed to help them if they couldn't see or hear her?

Suddenly, Ziva brought up the dinner she'd hosted for the team, the dinner Tony had been left out of, Kate felt the last of her control beginning to give, especially when she saw the hurt in Tony's eyes.

She knew that some people would say that she was being a hypocrite for being so angry about the team's treatment of Tony given the way she'd bickered with him before her death. And yes there were times she'd been a little too mean spirited in her teasing, but she'd never blatantly left him out of something while inviting everyone else or blown off a gunshot injury like Officer David had.

Then she watched as Tony got up and walked away without anyone noticing or saying anything and her temper snapped.

"Gibbs, you are such an idiot!" And with that, she smacked Gibbs on the back of the head, he couldn't feel the strike but it made her feel better. But, to her surprise, Gibbs spun around and stared at her in shock,

"Kate?!"

"Oh my God," Kate didn't know what to do, she'd never been told that she could make herself corporeal and the knowledge that her friends could see her sent her into a small fit of panic.

Her former team mates were just as stunned as she was by her sudden reappearance into the physical world and stared at her in amazement.

"Are you a ghost?" McGee asked quietly.

"I-I don't know," Kate replied. "I was under the assumption that I couldn't show myself to you."

"Technically, you can't," a deep voice commented from behind her. Everyone turned to see a good looking man with dark hair and eyes sitting at Tony's desk. Kate gulped, she hadn't expected HIM to show up. She'd only been told that her old team needed her. HIS appearance in Tony's chair could not be good.

"Who're you," Gibbs asked, his blue eyes narrow with suspicion.

"I am Uriel, the Angel of Death. I'm here concerning your Tony DiNozzo." He walked into the center of the room before addressing the team.

"Right now, Anthony DiNozzo is in the elevator, very upset over the events of the past several months, including his illness, Caitlyn's death, his being framed for murder and the events of today. In about five minutes, he will leave NCIS Headquarters. Shortly thereafter, he will be involved in a car crash in which he will be the only fatality." Abby let out a gasp of horror but Uriel held up a hand, "However, if one of you goes after him and prevents him from leaving, he will not be involved in the accident and will live for a long time. The choice is yours."

For a few seconds, no one moved, then Gibbs took off at a run heading for the stairs. Kate saw a smile flash across Uriel's normally somber face before turning back to her. "You only have a few more minutes, Caitlyn and then you'll be intangible again. I suggest you make use of it." With that, he vanished.

Kate nodded before turned back to the remainder of the team and wasn't terribly surprised when Abby threw her arms around her.

"I've missed you so much, Kate and now we're losing you again," Abby sobbed and Kate was thankful that she didn't need to breath because Abby was squeezing her awfully tight.

"Abby, I'm still going to be around. I'm the guardian angel for the team, you won't be able to see me or hear me, but I'll still be here." She gave Abby a final squeeze before turning to McGee. McGee's baby face was sad as he hugged her. He never said anything, he just hugged her tightly. After McGee let go, she turned to Ducky who had tears in his eyes.

"It's so good to see you again Caitlyn, I just wished that it wasn't for so short a time." She hugged him, feeling wetness on her shoulder.

As she was letting go of Ducky, she heard Uriel's voice, "It's time to go, Caitlyn. Gibbs has succeeded, Tony is safe." She let out a sigh of relief before stepping away. A split second later, she was back in the afterlife.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would," Uriel commented, appearing beside her.

Kate glared at him, "You could've warned me before you made me visible."

A mischievous smile crossed Uriel's face, "Yeah, but it wouldn't have been as dramatic an entrance if I'd told you. Plus, the look on Gibbs' face when he turned around and saw you after you hit him was extremely amusing." He patted her on the shoulder, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Kate frowned, "What did I do? No one ever told me what my mission was supposed to be. You did all the talking, I just stood there like an idiot."

Uriel chuckled, "You helped me convince one of the biggest hardasses I've ever seen that someone he loved was in serious danger." Seeing her confusion, he sighed, "Think about it, Caitlyn. If I had just appeared, Gibbs would've probably ignored me and Tony would've died. But having you, a friend and someone he knew for a fact was dead, appear just ahead of me, was enough to convince him of the seriousness of the situation. Now Tony's safe and sound. You helped save his life."

Kate thought about that before she spoke again, "Was Tony really going to die?"

Uriel nodded, "Yes he was and it would've been an absolute disaster for the team. They've got some hard times ahead of them, especially Gibbs and losing Tony would have made things even worse."

Kate frowned, "So, where are Tony and Gibbs now? I feel bad that I didn't get to say goodbye to them, especially Tony."

Uriel smiled softly, "Well, why don't you take a quick jump to Gibbs' home, specifically his bedroom and see for yourself. I promise you, you'll be very happy."

Kate gave him and odd look before heading for Gibbs' home. Once there, she frowned, there was no sound coming from the basement indicating that Gibbs was working on his boat. The only signs of life were two jackets on an easy chair and two pairs of shoes. She walked upstairs, poked her head into the bedroom and stared in amazement; Gibbs and Tony were in bed together, wrapped around each other and it didn't take a genius or an angel to figure out what had happened.

"Is that okay," she whispered to Uriel, even though she knew that the sleeping men couldn't hear her.

Uriel nodded, "Yes. Despite what many so-called 'religious' people say, The Board believes that love doesn't differentiate between the sexes. The heart wants what it wants. Besides, who do you think gave the order for us to interfere? The Head of Guardians doesn't have that power, he only gives the assignments."

Kate looked at him in amazement and was about to ask another question but thought better of it. She didn't need to, the sight of Tony sleeping soundly, not tossing and turning like he had been was enough to convince her. She crept over to Tony's side and lightly kissed him on the side of the head before joining Uriel again.

As they headed back to the afterlife, Kate smiled as she watched Gibbs cuddle Tony close; Mission Accomplished.

The End


End file.
